My tour of routes parallel to the Turnpike in northern Ohio provided
a dramatic look at the heavy congestion and safety hazards caused by
trucks avoiding the Turnpike, said Taft. The Northern Ohio Freight
Plan will improve safety and mobility throughout the region by moving
trucks to the Turnpike and reducing traffic on the smaller routes.

Increase truck weight and speed enforcement on the parallel state
routes; and

Increase speed limit for trucks using the Ohio Turnpike from 55 mph to
65 mph.

Today, Taft announced an 18-month trial Turnpike toll reduction for
commercial trucks is expected to begin by February 2005, at the latest.
The proposed toll reductions will vary from approximately two percent
for the lighter vehicles to 57 percent for the heaviest trucks. ODOT and
OTC will share the costs of this reduction for trucks weighing between
23,000 pounds and 90,000 pounds. The new, lower tolls represent a
rollback of between 58 percent and 60 percent of the toll increases that
were phased in from 1995 to 1999 for heavy trucks in Classes 7 and 8
(which represent nearly half of the truck volume on the Turnpike). For
the heaviest trucks, the new rates will be lower than they were in 1982.
The proposed toll rate for these trucks would be only $1 higher than it
was in 1955.

The speed limit for trucks using the Turnpike was increased from 55
mph to 65 mph in early September.

25 State Highway Patrol troopers will be added to enforce truck
weight limits on routes parallel to the Turnpike. ODOT will pay for the
additional troopers, which is expected to cost $2.5 million initially.
ODOT and the Patrol will closely monitor crash patterns on the Turnpike
and the adjacent routes during the trial period to determine the effect
these changes have to overall northern Ohio accident trends.

Our highway network is essential to our states economy, said Taft.
However, to ensure this economy remains vibrant and motorists traveling
through northern Ohio are safe, it is vital we reduce the truck traffic
volumes that routes parallel to the Turnpike are experiencing.

This most recent announcement continues the governors focus on
providing Ohio with a safe and efficient transportation system. In
addition to the Turnpike plan, the governor unveiled his 10-year, $5
billion Jobs and Progress Plan in August 2003 and in 2000 he initiated
the Railroad Grade Separation Program to build a series of
railroad/highway overpasses to deal with growing train traffic.